The Global Sawlog Price Index fell late in 2022 following a 40% gain over two
years
Wood raw-material costs for sawmills in North America and Europe eased in the 3Q/22 as
demand and prices for lumber fell. A few countries faced slight log price increases in their
local currencies, but with the strengthening US dollar, practically all markets worldwide
had lower log costs in dollar terms compared to the 2Q/22. As a result, the Global Sawlog
Price Index (GSPI) fell about five percent from its all-time high in the previous quarter.
Since the index fell to a ten-year low in early 2020, it has climbed steadily and was up 40%
over two years.
Unprecedented strong markets for wood products and record-high lumber prices caused
record demand for wood raw-material in both Europe and North America during 2021 and
early 2022. On a worldwide basis, softwood sawlog prices (in US$ terms) have gone up
the most since 2020 in Brazil (+76%), Western Canada (+70%), Estonia (+68%), and
Germany (+59%). Only the Nordic countries, Oceania, and China, have seen more modest
price adjustments in the past few years.
The European log market has undergone dramatic changes in supply and demand over the
The past five years resulted in the most substantial price fluctuations the Wood Resource
Quarterly has observed in almost 30 years of tracking wood markets. In 2017, sawlog
prices were at levels that had been practically unchanged for nearly a decade. The situation
changed when Central Europe was flooded with insects and storm-damaged timber in
2018-2020, and log prices fell to the lowest levels in over ten years.
High demand for lumber, declining availability of quality logs in the Czech Republic and
Germany, and reduced log imports from Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine resulted in a surge
in log prices on the continent. Consequently, the European Sawlog Price Index (ESPI)
jumped over 40% from 3Q/20 to 2Q/22, reaching an all-time high of just over €110/m3 in
the spring of 2022 (see chart). In the 3Q/22, lumber demand weakened, thus reducing
upward price pressures on sawlogs and even declining prices in many markets.
WRI Market Insights 2023
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Global Sawlog Markets
Nevertheless, prices continued to be the highest in Central and Eastern Europe, while
sawmills in the Nordic countries continued to have substantially lower raw-material costs
than their European competitors.
